Question

A few hours ago I’ve asked how to create a custom component (textInput and label component and created a Component Definition) and with your answers I can do that now.

Problem 2: I’d like to use that component in a datagrid column so that the user can type a value in the textInput which will in turn update the underlying dataprovider.
I know I should use a cellrenderer like I’ve done with a checkbox column (also with help on the Net), but at this stage I’m only pulling my hair out.
Please help.

Answer 1

This might look messy as it’s a modified example.

Make sure you have the DataGrid, Label and TextInput components in the library of the fla you want to try this:

// Import the required component classes.
import fl.controls.DataGrid;
import fl.controls.dataGridClasses.DataGridColumn;
import fl.data.DataProvider;
//get some data ready, notice data and label
var dp:DataProvider = new DataProvider();
for(var i:int = 0 ; i < 7; i++)
    dp.addItem({data:'input '+(i+1),label:'label '+(i+1), title:"item " + (i+1)});
var dataCol:DataGridColumn = new DataGridColumn("data");
dataCol.cellRenderer = CustomCell;
var titleCol:DataGridColumn = new DataGridColumn("title");

var myDataGrid:DataGrid = new DataGrid();
myDataGrid.addColumn(dataCol);
myDataGrid.addColumn(titleCol);
myDataGrid.dataProvider = dp;
myDataGrid.rowHeight = 64;
myDataGrid.width = 500;
myDataGrid.rowCount = dp.length - 1;
myDataGrid.move(10, 10);
myDataGrid.editable = true;
addChild(myDataGrid);

And the CustomCell class looks like this:

package {
    // Import the required component classes.
    import fl.controls.listClasses.ICellRenderer;
    import fl.controls.listClasses.ListData;
    import fl.controls.Label;
    import fl.controls.TextInput;
    import fl.core.InvalidationType;
    import fl.core.UIComponent;
    import fl.data.DataProvider;
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.events.Event;

    public class CustomCell extends UIComponent implements ICellRenderer {
        protected var _data:Object;
        protected var _listData:ListData;
        protected var _selected:Boolean;
        //the custom components
        private var labelComponent:Label;
        private var inputComponent:TextInput;
        /**
         * Constructor.
         */
        public function CustomCell():void {
            super();
            init();
        }
        /**
         * Draws the Label and TextInput components
         */
        private function init():void{
            labelComponent = new Label();
            labelComponent.autoSize = 'right';
            inputComponent = new TextInput();
            inputComponent.editable = true;

            addChild(labelComponent);
            addChild(inputComponent);
            inputComponent.x = labelComponent.width + 5;//5 pixels distance between components
            inputComponent.drawFocus(true);
        }

        public function get data():Object {
            return _data;
        }
        /** 
         * @private (setter)
         */
        public function set data(value:Object):void {
            _data = value;
            //there's label data, update the label
            if(_data.label) labelComponent.text = _data.label;
            //there's data for the input, update that too
            if(_data.data) inputComponent.text = _data.data;
        }

        public function get listData():ListData {
            return _listData;
        }
        public function set listData(value:ListData):void {
            _listData = value;
            invalidate(InvalidationType.DATA);
            invalidate(InvalidationType.STATE);
        }
        public function get selected():Boolean {
            return _selected;
        }
        public function set selected(value:Boolean):void {
            _selected = value;
            invalidate(InvalidationType.STATE);
        }
        public function setMouseState(state:String):void {
        }

    }
}

The code mostly comes from this devnet article.

It works ok, as in, it’s editable.

Solution is be a component class(a class extending fl.core.UIComponent), implementing the ICellRender interface so it can be set as a renderer, and containing the Label and TextInput components. Also data will be mapped to TextInput.text, so it can be easily edited.

If DataGrid is a bit bloated, and you want to use the Component Definition or something simpler. I guess you can hack together a solution using a List and setting a custom cellRenderer using styles.
I’m guessing custom clips are used as a cell renderer in the Plugins list on the tweenlite page.

HTH,
George